Even more unusual was the fact that the prosecutor in question — a Trump loyalist with no criminal experience — brought the case to the grand jury herself despite reports that some prosecutors in her own office worried they lacked the evidence to convict. She has served as a surrogate for Trump on Fox News, blasting the FBI’s search of Trump’s residence as “an appalling display of abuse of power.” Most recently, the 36-year-old served as a White House adviser focused on removing content from the Smithsonian Institution that does not reflect Trump’s preferred version of American history. The strategy matches what historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat calls “engineered incompetence.” According to Ben-Ghiat, when individuals are appointed to high office “without the credentials one would normally expect, they become dependent on and indebted to the leader.” The appointee is so grateful for their position that they feel beholden to the leader, and eager to repay his generosity.
Author: Barbara McQuade
Published at: 2025-09-28 10:00:00
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